Crime

Rockland man sentenced to 6 years in prison for child pornography charges

Donald Caruso, 42, pleaded guilty in November to the charges against him.

April 2, 2024

1 minute to read

A 42-year-old Rockland man was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison for distributing and possessing child pornography, authorities announced.

Donald Caruso was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release, the office of acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said in a statement. He pleaded guilty in November to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography; each charge provided the possibility of up to 20 years in prison in sentencing.

Prosecutors said in November 2022 Caruso used an online encrypted communication platform to send an undercover agent “multiple” links depicting the sexual abuse of children. Authorities seized a laptop hard drive and cell phone from Caruso. Between the two devices, prosecutors said hundreds of images and thousands of videos were recovered, with the children in the files ranging from less than one years old to about 11 years old.

“Forensic analysis of the devices also revealed numerous chat conversations between Caruso and others, including a user who purported to be 15 years old, and the chats appeared to be primarily sexual in nature and discussed the exchange of [child sexual abuse material] files,” Levy’s office said.

Prosecutors said 217 victims have been identified.